diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/middleware/simplevcs.py b/rhodecode/lib/middleware/simplevcs.py
--- a/rhodecode/lib/middleware/simplevcs.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/middleware/simplevcs.py
@@ -201,14 +201,11 @@ class SimpleVCS(object):
 
             # Only proceed if we got a pull request and if acl repo name from
             # URL equals the target repo name of the pull request.
-            if pull_request and \
-                    (acl_repo_name == pull_request.target_repo.repo_name):
-                repo_id = pull_request.target_repo.repo_id
+            if pull_request and (acl_repo_name == pull_request.target_repo.repo_name):
+
                 # Get file system path to shadow repository.
                 workspace_id = PullRequestModel()._workspace_id(pull_request)
-                target_vcs = pull_request.target_repo.scm_instance()
-                vcs_repo_name = target_vcs._get_shadow_repository_path(
-                    repo_id, workspace_id)
+                vcs_repo_name = pull_request.target_repo.get_shadow_repository_path(workspace_id)
 
                 # Store names for later usage.
                 self.vcs_repo_name = vcs_repo_name
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/base.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/base.py
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/base.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/base.py
@@ -645,24 +645,26 @@ class BaseRepository(object):
         """
         raise NotImplementedError
 
-    def _get_legacy_shadow_repository_path(self, workspace_id):
+    @classmethod
+    def _get_legacy_shadow_repository_path(cls, repo_path, workspace_id):
         """
         Legacy version that was used before. We still need it for
         backward compat
         """
         return os.path.join(
-            os.path.dirname(self.path),
-            '.__shadow_%s_%s' % (os.path.basename(self.path), workspace_id))
+            os.path.dirname(repo_path),
+            '.__shadow_%s_%s' % (os.path.basename(repo_path), workspace_id))
 
-    def _get_shadow_repository_path(self, repo_id, workspace_id):
+    @classmethod
+    def _get_shadow_repository_path(cls, repo_path, repo_id, workspace_id):
         # The name of the shadow repository must start with '.', so it is
         # skipped by 'rhodecode.lib.utils.get_filesystem_repos'.
-        legacy_repository_path = self._get_legacy_shadow_repository_path(workspace_id)
+        legacy_repository_path = cls._get_legacy_shadow_repository_path(repo_path, workspace_id)
         if os.path.exists(legacy_repository_path):
             return legacy_repository_path
         else:
             return os.path.join(
-                os.path.dirname(self.path),
+                os.path.dirname(repo_path),
                 '.__shadow_repo_%s_%s' % (repo_id, workspace_id))
 
     def cleanup_merge_workspace(self, repo_id, workspace_id):
@@ -674,7 +676,8 @@ class BaseRepository(object):
 
         :param workspace_id: `workspace_id` unique identifier.
         """
-        shadow_repository_path = self._get_shadow_repository_path(repo_id, workspace_id)
+        shadow_repository_path = self._get_shadow_repository_path(
+            self.path, repo_id, workspace_id)
         shadow_repository_path_del = '{}.{}.delete'.format(
             shadow_repository_path, time.time())
 
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/git/repository.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/git/repository.py
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/git/repository.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/git/repository.py
@@ -892,7 +892,7 @@ class GitRepository(BaseRepository):
     def _maybe_prepare_merge_workspace(
             self, repo_id, workspace_id, target_ref, source_ref):
         shadow_repository_path = self._get_shadow_repository_path(
-            repo_id, workspace_id)
+            self.path, repo_id, workspace_id)
         if not os.path.exists(shadow_repository_path):
             self._local_clone(
                 shadow_repository_path, target_ref.name, source_ref.name)
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/hg/repository.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/hg/repository.py
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/hg/repository.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/hg/repository.py
@@ -704,7 +704,7 @@ class MercurialRepository(BaseRepository
     def _maybe_prepare_merge_workspace(
             self, repo_id, workspace_id, unused_target_ref, unused_source_ref):
         shadow_repository_path = self._get_shadow_repository_path(
-            repo_id, workspace_id)
+            self.path, repo_id, workspace_id)
         if not os.path.exists(shadow_repository_path):
             self._local_clone(shadow_repository_path)
             log.debug(
diff --git a/rhodecode/model/db.py b/rhodecode/model/db.py
--- a/rhodecode/model/db.py
+++ b/rhodecode/model/db.py
@@ -2505,6 +2505,12 @@ class Repository(Base, BaseModel):
             repo.count()  # cache rebuild
         return repo
 
+    def get_shadow_repository_path(self, workspace_id):
+        from rhodecode.lib.vcs.backends.base import BaseRepository
+        shadow_repo_path = BaseRepository._get_shadow_repository_path(
+            self.repo_full_path, self.repo_id, workspace_id)
+        return shadow_repo_path
+
     def __json__(self):
         return {'landing_rev': self.landing_rev}
 
@@ -4209,10 +4215,9 @@ class PullRequest(Base, _PullRequestBase
 
     def get_shadow_repo(self):
         workspace_id = self.workspace_id
-        vcs_obj = self.target_repo.scm_instance()
-        shadow_repository_path = vcs_obj._get_shadow_repository_path(
-            self.target_repo.repo_id, workspace_id)
+        shadow_repository_path = self.target_repo.get_shadow_repository_path(workspace_id)
         if os.path.isdir(shadow_repository_path):
+            vcs_obj = self.target_repo.scm_instance()
             return vcs_obj.get_shadow_instance(shadow_repository_path)
 
 
diff --git a/rhodecode/tests/lib/middleware/test_simplevcs.py b/rhodecode/tests/lib/middleware/test_simplevcs.py
--- a/rhodecode/tests/lib/middleware/test_simplevcs.py
+++ b/rhodecode/tests/lib/middleware/test_simplevcs.py
@@ -333,9 +333,7 @@ class TestShadowRepoExposure(object):
 
         # Get file system path to shadow repo for assertions.
         workspace_id = PullRequestModel()._workspace_id(pull_request)
-        target_vcs = pull_request.target_repo.scm_instance()
-        vcs_repo_name = target_vcs._get_shadow_repository_path(
-            pull_request.target_repo.repo_id, workspace_id)
+        vcs_repo_name = pull_request.target_repo.get_shadow_repository_path(workspace_id)
 
         assert controller.vcs_repo_name == vcs_repo_name
         assert controller.url_repo_name == shadow_url